Beeeezzzz!

[PSM]

We just got home from social distancing for a week and a half in WY. We made the mistake of leaving a couple of small windows in our bathrooms open while gone and the house was hotter than after returning from longer trips. We got home too late to use the batteries to power our A/C so I dragged out the potable gennie to power the house. Now the back story, the day we were leaving, I unhooked the gennie from our umbilical cord to the house and put it in the garage. When I went to close the fake clean-out that the power cord runs through, bees started swarming and stung me on my left index finger. I made a tactical retreat to the garage and closed the door. (BTW, these are African-American Killer Bees but they've been mostly peaceful while we've lived here.) So, several bees followed me into the garage and when my wife, who pulled the electrical cord into the house came out to see why the hole was still open, she got stung on the arm. Half an hour later, her arm was swollen and itching, and my finger was fine. Her arm was swollen and itched for about a week

So, when we got home yesterday, I dragged the gennie out again, set it in place, and tried to open the fake clean-out. It was stuck. I got a wrench and, when I returned, the bees were swarming again BIG-TIME! We needed the air-conditioner. So, I donned my winter Ninga Bunny Suit, our net laundry bag from the travel trailer, and duct tape and moved our gennie to another locale.

Pix are social distancing and improvised bee suit:

[Badger52]

First, nice work. Two questions:
How does your umbilical terminate in the house and, seeing you in your bunny suit, can you still say "it's a dry heat?"

[PSM]

Originally Posted by Badger52

First, nice work. Two questions:
How does your umbilical terminate in the house and, seeing you in your bunny suit, can you still say "it's a dry heat?"

It's tied into our service panel on a pair of 30 amp breakers.

It was 100° and I was in it about 20 or 25 minutes. I didn't notice the heat, though, I was more worried that the net was touching my ears. Turns out it was just the chin strap of my boonie hat. My wife was ready with a hose in case the swarm stayed with me.

[Golf1echo]

Good work. I remember running into some very POed bees on the West side of Avra Valley on a hike once, we ran fast and hard toward one of the nastiest cattle ponds we’d ever seen and with very little muddy water left in it and only just outran the little devils before we were planning to dive in

[Remington Raidr]

Originally Posted by PSM

(BTW, these are African-American Killer Bees but they've been mostly peaceful while we've lived here.)

Antifa gonna git you!

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by PSM

My wife was ready with a hose in case the swarm stayed with me.

Man, I'm tellin' ya... Sometimes there's just nothin' like a good overwatch.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by Badger52

Man, I'm tellin' ya... Sometimes there's just nothin' like a good overwatch.

Well, it took her many tries to get that photo because she was laughing so hard. Some overwatch.

[PSM]

Turns out that this was a No Joke big deal. We had to have the Killer Bee Guy come out to deal with them. The dude is out of Bisbee and sells honey. Discovery Channel did an episode of Risk Takers on him: https://www.*******.com/watch?v=luszv798bYc

Apparently Bisbee was attacked big time in 1998.

p.s.: He loved my bee suit. Problem is, they are attracted to dark fabrics. Who knew?

[Stobey]

For bee or wasp or hornet stings:

1.) If it's a bee sting, take the stinger out carefully using more of a scraping motion - do NOT grab the poison sack at the end of the stinger! (You will only release more poison into the wound.)

2.) Make up a thick paste of warm water and salt.

3.) Apply directly to the sting site.

4.) Wait approx. half hour w/salt poultice on site.

5.) Rinse off and repeat steps 2 - 4. (This will take the poison out.)


This works. I've used it myself. As my sister said, when she was studying to be an RN: "Salt sucks!"

[PSM]

Stobey, we're not talking A bee sting here, but thousands. These bees killed a guy in Wilcox earlier this year. They kill dogs, cats, and horses. Watch the video I linked to, they swarm in seconds. They're pretty docile until they're not. We've got hundreds of dead and dying ones in the laundry room right now.

[Badger52]

Jeebers. Given what it's turned out to be, glad you're still with us.

[Stobey]

Originally Posted by PSM

Stobey, we're not talking A bee sting here, but thousands. These bees killed a guy in Wilcox earlier this year. They kill dogs, cats, and horses. Watch the video I linked to, they swarm in seconds. They're pretty docile until they're not. We've got hundreds of dead and dying ones in the laundry room right now.

Yep. You've gotta watch those African Honeybees. They are nasty. I just posted the info just for anyone that had a couple of stings.

I just watched the video. Whoa! These little s.o.b.s are nasty!

[PSM]

It was good info, thanks. I got stung on the finger, and while it hurt a lot, it was over in about half an hour. My wife was stung on the arm, swelled up, and hurt for a day and itched and remained swollen for a week.

I'll share back a treatment for mosquito bites: Hold a very hot liquid, coffee, tea, or just water in a cup against the bite. It has to be hotter than you can stand normally and held past the point you think you can't take anymore. Works every time I've done it.

[Stobey]

Thanks for the info on mosquito bites. Those damned things have me itching for weeks.